Service is a family tradition
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Judge Brent J. Moss
Visitor in Health Law Public Service A national leader in establishing specialized drug and mental health courts as alternatives to traditional criminal courts was the 2009 Visitor in Health Law Public Service. Judge Brent J. Moss, who presided over the Seventh Judicial District of Idaho, lectured on the specialized courts, their origin, effectiveness, and future. He also met informally with students while on campus. His son, Jacob, is a second-year student in the law school’s MD/JD program. “It’s a new way of trying to deal with some of the issues for those suffering mental illness and substance abuse. The traditional court system has not been particularly adept at addressing their problems or the problems that society has with respect to their behavior,” said W. Eugene Basanta, the Southern Illinois Healthcare Professor of Law and Medicine and co-director of the health law and policy center. Moss earned his law degree from the University of Utah School of Law. Appointed Judge Moss met informally with law students while on campus
a magistrate judge in 1985, he moved to the district bench in 1993, where he served until his retirement this year. He received the Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award for 2006. Idaho’s Seventh Judicial District covers 10 counties. Drug and mental health courts are an effective alternative to incarceration, said Shane Koch, associate professor and director of addictions studies with SIUC’s Rehabilitation Institute. In Illinois, there has been almost no utilization of federally funded drug or substance abuse court models south of Interstate 70, other than in the Metro East area, he said. “In a region like Southern Illinois, where we do not have a lot of economic resources to waste, I feel it would be in our best interest and the best interest of our communities and the people of Southern Illinois to really use specialized courts to not only save money but strengthen our communities,” he said. Judge Moss also met with area judges during his visit to talk more specifically about the administration of specialized courts.
Barbara Lesar honored for service Southern Illinois University Carbondale honored longtime supporter Barbara Lesar with a Distinguished Service Award during the SIU School of Law commencement ceremony in May. The University’s Honorary Degree and Distinguished Service Award Committee recommended Lesar for the award, in consultation with other University leaders. The committee is comprised of faculty and constituency members. Law school faculty nominated Lesar, who turned 90 in March, Peter C. Alexander said. “She is a delight; she is energetic,” Alexander said. “She is our No. 1 supporter at the School of Law, and I suspect that other campus units can say the same thing about her. She has been a tireless servant for so many departments on campus that I’m very pleased we will be able to honor her contributions at our commencement.” The resolution recognizing Lesar notes her tireless contributions to the University for many years. She participated in many University events when her first husband, the late Dr. Richard Thomas, was a faculty member. After he passed away, Lesar later married the School of Law’s founding dean, Hiram H. Lesar, where her University involvement continued to grow.
“Mrs. Lesar has been a true champion for the School of Law,” Alexander wrote in his nomination letter. “As Hiram Lesar’s widow, Mrs. Lesar has considered it her responsibility to make sure that Dr. Lesar’s vision is supported every way possible. To that end she serves as an active member of our Board of Visitors and she attends every law school event that we hold.” The board’s resolution notes that Lesar is a co-chair of one of the law school’s fund-raising committees working to endow a professorship in her late husband’s honor. The resolution also refers to her service on the Friends of WSIU Advisory Board (past president), and her involvement with Morris Library. She served on the Morris Library Board of Visitors from September 1997 until January 2006, and she continues to support the library’s activities.